Chapter 13
Competition II
Ichigo shuts off the portable DVD player. He stretched this morning while watching the master of her style again, and without the distraction of Rukia, he was able to pay closer attention to the movements of the style she was so proud of. It reminds him of a boa constrictor. The Gracie Jiu-jitsu master has so much patience in some of his fights, slowly working himself into the right position to pull a move that will end the fight.
He studies the fights where the opponent was able to wriggle out of a hold. He remembers the strength in which Rukia's forearms had pressed into his wrist with her one demonstration. His lady sure was a dangerous little thing!
Ichigo realizes it's time to meet Rukia when she knocks on his door. He hurries to open it and grabs his bag which was sitting next to the door.
"Ready?" Rukia asks. Ichigo nods. They don't have time for a sit down meal. Rukia had ordered take out from the same restaurant they'd had eaten in the day before, and she'd gotten a variety of food. They head to the competition, and check out the order, then sit to eat. There was a while to go until they were up.
The talented fighters were being pushed back today, and Ichigo wasn't until the twelfth round, Renji in the thirteenth round and Rukia once again was right before Ichigo in the eleventh round. She had a sneaking suspicion that it'd be that way for as long as they were both in the competition since she was translating for him.
The introductions were now longer too. Each participant had been asked to fill out a questionnaire to turn in before the fights started and more was revealed about each fighter prior to their match to add to the suspense factor.
Rukia had helped Ichigo with his, and she had even learned a few new things about him in the process. She keeps feeling closer and closer to him and she just can't wait to actually be his wife. She notices that he is completely relaxed, and not the least bit nervous about his match.
She always gets nervous. She can't help it, her body's natural reaction to knowing she's going to be in a fight is to get nervous. She's better when she's confronted in surprise. She had been leaving the mall once, and the area she left from was actually an area with few people, and a man had tried to grab her.
She hadn't been nervous then, she'd reacted instinctively from her training and with deadly calm she had choked the guy until he was unconscious and left. She didn't care if what she'd done was illegal, he was alive and she didn't want to be anywhere in his vicinity when he woke up.
She's always fine once her match begins, too. It's only the waiting time before hand that greatly stresses her out. She tugs on Ichigo's arm, and he immediately stops paying attention to the fight to look down at her.
"How do you stay so calm?" Rukia asks, wondering if he can give her any advice.
"What?" Ichigo says, confusion spreading across his features.
"Before the match, while waiting, how do you stay so calm and relaxed?" Rukia asks, looking at him like his answer is urgent. Ichigo appears to be considering her question before he looks down at her.
"I don't think about my matches much. I usually don't think very much at all about any fight I'm in until I'm in it, since dwelling on it won't always help. It's probably because of being targeted so often for my hair. For a long time I was getting in fights every day, sometimes before school, or after, sometimes during school. There were times where I was jumped when I was with my family. If I always worried about it, I'd spend my time doing nothing but worrying. I apply the same concept to this competition." Ichigo explains to the best of his ability and Rukia looks like she understands, which means it's not much help for her.
She wouldn't be as calm as him unless she were constantly being pushed into fights. She suddenly notices that Renji has been paying close attention to what Ichigo and she were talking about.
"Any advice for me on how to calm down? I would love to borrow some of your calm." Rukia admits with a pink face and a shy smile.
"I have a suggestion," Ichigo says, and Rukia looks to meet his eyes. "You could think about something other than your match. You could always think about the way we made out the other night," Ichigo says, offering her a sexy little smile that makes her feel a bit wobbly and breathless. Renji looks outraged, but Ichigo isn't paying any attention to him.
"You think that would help me calm down?" Rukia asks with a choked laugh.
"Hmm, maybe not, but at least you won't be dwelling on your match," Ichigo says, quick to point out the benefits of such thinking. "I'll be right back." Ichigo tells her as he heads off towards the bathrooms. Renji looks at Rukia who's staring after Ichigo, love struck.
"You made out with him?" Renji repeats, a bit disturbed at the happy smile accompanied by an attractive blush that appears on her face.
"It was wonderful!" Rukia says with a dreamy look in her eyes. Renji shakes his head and carefully considers what words he should use to convey his thoughts.
"Why rush things?" Renji finally asks, holding his breath. Rukia gives him a look like he's strange and insane.
"All of my girlfriends have made out, except for me. I didn't think I was rushing, it was with the man I'm engaged to." Rukia says. "I don't think it was inappropriate. Shouldn't I know how my future husband kisses, how he touches, and how he calls my name in passion?" Rukia asks, half in demand, half in a dreamy state at the visions her own words are invoking. "Shouldn't I be able to sigh at the memory of my first intimate kiss when I'm with my friends?"
"I didn't realize, since you and I have never talked about anything like that before," Renji says in a tight voice. Rukia looks at him in surprise.
"Have you had any experiences? I didn't talk about it because I hadn't had any. Do you know what I mean when I say my heart was racing faster than ever when he held me in his arms?" Rukia asks excitedly, Renji shakes his head no.
"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell." Renji says matter-of-factly. "Remember that." Renji says with a firm nod of his head.
"He's right." Ichigo says, surprising Rukia by appearing from behind her. "It would be disrespectful to degrade my experience with you by talking about it with my friends." Ichigo says as he looks into her beautiful eyes, which look disappointed. Ichigo can't figure it out, he just said something nice to her.
"Are you saying I'm not allowed to tell my friends?" Rukia asks, looking very upset. Ichigo looks at her with surprise.
"Your girlfriends are different from my friends. My friends are perverted guys who would get some sort of sick inner satisfaction if I were to recall our private moments in vivid detail. Some might even use the information I give to propel their own twisted fantasy when they're alone. I don't want to give any guy ammunition to think about you that way." Ichigo explains. Rukia sighs in relief.
"You're right, my girlfriends aren't disgusting perverts, so it would be okay if I recounted my own experience with them.
"It's bad enough that Sado saw that picture of you with the strawberry, thankfully he's not like the others, he's a true friend, which means you're off limits." Ichigo mutters his thoughts out loud.
"How did he see it?" Rukia asks with a smile. She gives Renji a small smile, at least one of Ichigo's friends knew about her.
"He was hanging out with me when your letter arrived. My dad yanked the pictures out of my hand and started practically bawling at your image and then he proudly showed Sado the recent photos of his future daughter-in-law." Ichigo says, frowning at the memory of how his dad had snatched the pictures.
"Was your friend surprised?" Rukia asks him, pinning him with an intense stare.
"About what?" Ichigo asks her with confusion.
"At your father's words." Rukia replies, holding her breath for his answer.
"A little, because Dad was being dramatic, but Sado already knew I was engaged," Ichigo says. He notices Rukia's smile, and he isn't sure what to make of that.
"Oh," Rukia says, feeling really happy that Ichigo hadn't kept her a secret like she had with him. She regrets her past decision now, and she's glad he doesn't have to feel that way too. She looks up in surprise when Renji speaks.
"Do all of your friends know about Rukia?" Renji asks him, giving Rukia a look that says, be glad your friend is asking what you can't.
"I think all of my friends know I'm engaged, but they don't know much about the girl I'm engaged to." Ichigo says with a shrug. Rukia is surprised Ichigo answered Renji so civilly. She figured he'd rudely tell Renji it was none of his damned business. She guesses he's being like this out of respect for her friendship. Rukia looks up to see that the ninth round is starting. She'll likely be up within an hour.
"I'll be right back!" Rukia says hurrying for the bathroom. Ichigo stands there and resumes watching the matches with his arms crossed. Renji can't think of anything nice or civil to say to Ichigo and so he too, crossed his arms to watch the matches. All of a sudden a large breasted blonde haired older teenage girl appears and wraps Ichigo in a hug. She purposely pushes her well endowed chest into him.
"You are so hot, I love your hair, want to sleep with me tonight?" The girl asks in English, and Ichigo doesn't understand, though he does get that she's somehow offering him something sexual. Renji's mouth had fallen open at the scene.
Ichigo immediately shoves the unknown offending girl off of him. He doesn't bother to speak to her knowing she won't understand and so he gives her an angry look and waves her off. Rukia appears out of nowhere immediately. She angrily questions the woman in English, and suddenly Ichigo's a bit nervous. He's never seen Rukia furious, and he's shocked to say it's scary.
"That was sexual assault!" Rukia says angrily. "Why did you just touch him like that?" Rukia asks, ice dripping in her voice. The girl looks at her and backs up.
"Chill, I didn't mean anything by it." The girl quickly walks away and Ichigo tells Rukia to calm down.
"Who did she think she was, pushing her boobs all over you?" Rukia asks in a loud angry voice. Luckily it's in Japanese and most of the people in the room can't understand a word that's coming from her lips. Renji turns away to hide his smile at Rukia's choice of words.
"Rukia!" Ichigo says sharply, drawing her attention. She looks at him and he leans down and kisses her. She blushes a bit at his grin. "I was disgusted by her. I've never been into that type. You're the only one that's ever turned me on." Ichigo smiles at her and Rukia feels her anger melt completely away. The ninth round is halfway finished and Rukia looks at Ichigo with a new calm.
"Want to stretch with me?" Rukia asks Ichigo and he happily obliges. The time goes by quickly as they slowly stretch and prepare for their matches.
Ichigo gives her a good luck kiss as the eleventh round men's match is ending. Rukia walks over to the ring, since the victory moment is longer in these rounds. The winner is asked a couple of questions. Rukia is at the ring when it's her turn to climb in. Her opponent is huge.
Her name is Danielle Miles, and she is a second degree black belt in Chinese Kempo. Rukia has seen her fight. She knows this girl is going to be tough.
Instead of dodging, Rukia purposely takes a hit in the stomach to get a low kick in and knock the girl to the ground. Rukia is immediately on top of her and she is bending the girl's wrist at an unnatural angle to get the tap out. With that, she wins, and has her arm raised in victory. She is asked how many years she trained and if she's planning on taking up any new styles.
Rukia answers that she's been training since she was a young child and that she plans on learning karate next, from a very talented karate martial artist. She hops down and kisses Ichigo quickly for luck. He grins and hops up into the ring. His stomach is finally settling down from seeing Rukia take a hit.
"Ichigo, he's a fourth level black belt in karate!" Rukia calls out anxiously. Ichigo grins at that information. He's seen this guy fight before. He was impressive, but Ichigo wasn't at all afraid of him. The guy jumps eight feet across the ring and aims a kick right at Ichigo's stomach, but Ichigo flips up into the air over him and lands behind him. He uses this opportunity to deliver a powerful kidney shot. The kid stands, since he's able to continue, but he's not nearly as feisty as he was a minute ago.
Ichigo sees the kick coming for him and he punches his opponent in the side as he flies right past him. He lands a bit off balance and Ichigo does a flying side kick to his opponent's other kidney. The guy can't even stand now.
Rukia's jumping excitedly. Ichigo's very talented to be able to beat a person who's at a higher level in his own style. The announcer motions for Rukia to come up and translate for Ichigo and for the crowd. The moment Rukia is next to him, Ichigo throws a sweaty arm around her and throws her a grin. Rukia smiles back.
"So we'd like to know what brought a Japanese kid out here for our competition!" The announcer says to Rukia, and she blushes. She quickly translates the question for Ichigo, out of respect and he just looks at her like she should go ahead and answer. She looks at the announcer.
"I brought him out here since I was participating. I wanted him to join me." Rukia answers in a calm voice.
The announcer chuckles and looks at the two.
"We've seen how friendly you two are, what's the story?" The announcer asks. Once again, Rukia translates for Ichigo out of respect and once again he nods at her to give the answer.
"We are betrothed." Rukia answers the announcer. The announcer looks shocked.
"Such a young couple, and both so talented! We wish the best of luck to you both!" The announcer says as Rukia and Ichigo leave the ring.
"You were amazing! I love watching you in action!" Rukia says with an excited laugh as they head over to their bags.
"I don't think he was really a fourth level black belt." Ichigo says with a smirk.
"He beat two other people in order to match up against you today, though." Rukia reminds him. Ichigo smiles at her.
"He's out now." Ichigo says as they sit. "You want to wait and watch Renji again, don't you?" Ichigo asks, figuring she'll say yes. He's not surprised at her answer.
"Yes, please. If you want to change and come back out, or you can wait until I go to do the same." Rukia says, looking up at Ichigo hopefully.
"I'll stay with you." Ichigo says softly. Rukia grins at him.
"You really are the best," Rukia tells him happily.
"I'm glad you think so." Ichigo says, giving her a wink, which makes her heart jump triple time. She goes to sit down but he stops her and pulls her in front of him as he starts rubbing her shoulders. She sighs in pleasure.
"That feels nice," Rukia says, enjoying the relaxing feeling.
"How's your stomach?" Ichigo asks in a low voice.
"I saw it coming, I tightened it up, I'm okay." Rukia tells him, glad that he's as concerned for her as she is for him. He rubs her shoulders until it's Renji's match.
It takes Renji until the second round to find an opening in which to work a submissive technique, and it takes him a good minute to get into the correct position to actually complete the move to force his opponent to tap out. It's a strange angle but it looks like Renji has the right arm of his opponent, completely stretched out and he's twisting it back into the shoulder at a painful looking angle.
Rukia cheers for him as the referee raises his arm in victory, and Renji is asked where he grew up, and if he planned on taking up any new styles besides Gracie Jiu-jitsu. Ichigo is dragging Rukia to the dressing room area at this point and he kisses the top of her head before heading into the men's changing room.
They are informed that the next day starts quite a bit later. It starts at twelve o'clock. Since there will only be eight rounds in all the next day, the amount of time spent in the competition each day has lessened drastically.
Ichigo sees Renji out of the corner of his eyes as he enters the dressing room, but Ichigo still doesn't really like the guy very much. He hasn't forgotten how Renji looked at him when Rukia announced they were engaged. Renji had looked at Ichigo like there was no way he was good enough for Rukia. Ichigo had seen it and recognized it instantly, and he was going to stay reserved with the guy. As far as Ichigo's concerned, Renji's interest in Rukia isn't of a platonic nature. Ichigo decides he'll shower at the hotel. He quickly changes and waits outside of the dressing area for Rukia to appear.
After Ichigo gets back to the hotel and showers and changes, he's ready to go for a nice relaxing walk with Rukia. He knocks on her door since for once, she isn't waiting for him, and she appears in a pale blue sun dress. She looks like a beautiful life sized doll.
"Wow, you look amazing," Ichigo says with his eyes a little wider at the sight of her looking so adorable.
"Thanks!" Rukia says with a grin. She takes hold of his hand and they take a walk together. Once again, Ichigo is armed with the camera his sister had given him before he went out of town.
"I'm going to miss spending time with you like this." Ichigo tells her, as he caresses the palm of her hand with his finger. Rukia decides to change the subject.
"Your sisters want pictures, why don't I hire us a taxi and we'll go for a long drive!" Rukia exclaims. Ichigo nods his head and Rukia pulls out a cell phone and makes the arrangements.
"I didn't know you had a cell phone that worked here." Ichigo says with surprise.
"My servant picked me up a prepaid phone for the week we're here. She programmed the number for the taxi in here too. Lets hurry back to the hotel, that's where I told them to pick us up at." Rukia says, and they rush back to the hotel. They arrive just as their taxi is about to leave.
Once they're driving, Rukia asks the driver to go to Cleveland. She takes him around downtown Cleveland and then she takes him to Edgewater Park. He gets some pictures of downtown Cleveland and of Lake Erie. They head back to Columbus after they linger in the Cleveland area for as long as they dare.
When they're driving back, it starts to get dark on the drive. Rukia rests her hand on Ichigo's leg and leans up into his shoulder. They cuddle the rest of the way back. When they're dropped off at the hotel, Ichigo watches Rukia enter her own room before he enters his own.
Ichigo thinks about the differences he's noticed between this country and his own. The kids his age here seem different. The fact that people get married more than once in this country seems weird to him too. His father hasn't dated anybody at all since the death of his mother.
He remembered how his jaw had dropped open in the hotel lobby when Rukia heard a woman loudly telling her friend that her fifth husband was the only one she thought she could make it last with. Rukia had translated what the woman had said after Ichigo looked at her weirdly for gasping. Multiple marriages would be scandalous in Japan. Rukia had always disliked the casual attitudes in regards to marriage in America.
In some ways Ichigo could respect it, individuality and uniqueness seemed to be praised here and abhorred in Japan. If you're naturally different, you're a lot more accepted here than in Japan. Rukia wants him to meet her at nine-thirty for breakfast and she said she wanted to take him somewhere before the competition. Ichigo does his sit ups and push ups before laying in bed to rest for the next day.
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Rukia wakes up at eight thirty and fills the tub up with hot water. She stretches as the tub fills with water, and then she gets in and lets the warm water soothe her muscles. She wonders what it would be like if Ichigo were in the tub with her.
She smiles at that thought as she feels little tingles shooting throughout her body. She thinks again about the way her body felt when he was touching her, especially the other night when he'd gone so far as to expose her breast and then put his mouth over it. It had been a feeling of pleasure unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She hadn't wanted him to stop.
When Rukia gets out of her bath, she changes into casual clothes for the morning activities she has planned with Ichigo. She had decided on a red tank top with Capri style jeans. She looks at the clock. She had spent longer in the tub than she had initially realized, just because she'd been daydreaming about Ichigo. It's already almost nine-thirty. She throws on her sandals and walks across the hall and knocks on Ichigo's door, even though she's a few minutes early.
Ichigo opens the door shirtless, and leaves it open as he grabs a shirt off of his bed and slips it on.
"I'm almost ready, let me just get my bag and my shoes." Ichigo mutters as he picks up his bag. Rukia was smiling at being greeted by a shirtless Ichigo. She congratulates herself on arriving a couple of minutes too early.
"No rush, I'm a couple of minutes early," Rukia chirps as she watches him slip on his shoes. He looks at her quickly and then walks over to kiss her on the lips.
"What has you so happy?" Ichigo asks her. Rukia grins.
"I'm just looking forward to our morning. Bring your camera!" Rukia answers with a happy little grin.
"I'm ready to go," Ichigo tells her as he grabs a camera off t he nightstand. They head out and Rukia takes Ichigo to breakfast. She takes him to a donut shop. She orders them a few donuts and when they finish those she excitedly drags him into a gun store.
Ichigo is surprised. He's never been in the presence of so many guns. He's only seen police officers with them outside of the movies.
"Amazing isn't it?" Rukia asks, looking at his dumbfounded expression.
"It's unbelievable." Ichigo responds as he is amazed by how apparently easy it is in this country to get your hands on a gun. Hand guns are illegal in Japan. They walk around and Ichigo asks Rukia to ask worker behind the counter to allow Ichigo to hold one. Rukia quickly asks the guy if he can hold an unloaded gun, just to see what it's like, since he's from Japan, and has never seen a gun up close. The guy smiles and nods as he pulls out a small handgun out of the showcase and hands it to Ichigo.
Ichigo is surprised at the weight of it in his hand. He never ever thought he'd hold one. He has Rukia take a picture of him holding the gun, and they take pictures of the shop for his family.
When they leave, Ichigo asks Rukia if there's anywhere he can get souvenirs for his family. Rukia grins and tells him the airport is probably better for stuff like that, but then she takes him to Easton Town Center, where Ichigo is able to get plenty of beautiful pictures, it's a gorgeous shopping center. They even find a teenage girl who smilingly agrees to take their picture together in front of the mall.
Rukia ends up finding some America themed headbands, and she thinks his sisters might like them, and so she picks them up. They don't buy much though, they mainly look around until it was time to head to the competition. Rukia loves it because it's an actual date. She's a bit nervous about the competition though.
When they get there, they find out she's in the second round and he's in the third. He's not fighting Renji either. Rukia breathes a sigh of relief at that fact and they both go to quickly change. When they get out, they both immediately start stretching. Renji appears. She had noticed he was in the eighth round, and she wasn't sure Ichigo would want to hang around that long after they left. She decides to ask him.
"Do you mind staying until the end?" She asks him. Ichigo glances at her.
"I wouldn't mind getting a look at all the competition." Ichigo replies, knowing she wants to see Renji, but he doesn't lie. He does want to study the others since the amount of people has dropped significantly. Rukia gives him a tiny smile as she admires his good looks.
"Thanks." Rukia says to him, and they watch as the first match starts. Renji seems pretty quiet today. He too is avidly watching each match. Ichigo notices that Rukia shakes her head a lot at the way the other fighters handle certain situations. Ichigo smothers a smirk when he hears her snort a few times. He finally asks her when he feels he's going to start laughing.
"Something bothering you?" He asks with a small smile. He grins fully when he sees her eyes, flashing with aggravation.
"So many openings to end the fight, and people don't take them. I can't help but shake my head." She says, still shaking her head in dismay. Renji finally speaks up.
"I know what you mean." Renji looks over at Rukia, with a smile. "Try not to let it get to you though, just stand with the knowledge that you're smarter than that."
"Did you snort like that when I was fighting?" Ichigo asks her, raising an eyebrow. Rukia's eyes widen.
"No, of course not! You broke the record didn't you? I think you're amazing!" Rukia replies. Ichigo shakes his head like he doesn't believe her.
"I admit your style is impressive, but the fact is that other styles have their benefits too," Ichigo says in defense of karate.
"I agree, that's why I'm not limiting myself to only one style," Rukia responds. Ichigo can't respond to that and so he smiles at her.
"You win," Ichigo conceded. Rukia grins.
"As long as it's your only defeat of the day, then I don't mind." She says winking.
"Roger that. No more defeats today." Ichigo says like a robot. Rukia giggles.
"So long as you understand," she says in a superior voice. Ichigo rolls his eyes.
"Don't push it," he says. "I already told you, that you should worry for my opponents, didn't I?" He asks her. Rukia looks up at him. He's back to watching the fights. Today is the last day that the men will go first. Starting tomorrow the women will precede the men. The fight between the men end, and the women go up. Rukia watches the women carefully, but the fight is ended unexpectedly quickly when the one woman uses a throw move in the first minute and when she throws her opponent, she lands with the wind knocked out of her. She is unable to get up or breathe and taps out as the other woman grabs her arm and bends it. She's apparently versed in Jiu-jitsu and Judo. Rukia thinks she's talented.
In the next men's fight, Ichigo watches as it ends in the first round, which means it's Rukia's turn. Ichigo had been surprised, the move hadn't been much, but it had left the opponent tapping out. The winner had the loser's arm in a strange grip. Ichigo hadn't been able to make much sense of the move. He quickly plants a kiss on her cheek.
"Good luck," Ichigo tells her. She shoots him a grin and heads over to the ring.
Her opponent is Robyn Holly, five foot five and is trained in kickboxing and in karate. She weighs one hundred and thirty pounds, which is almost double Rukia's weight. Robyn decides to use her weight to her advantage since she has good speed to accompany it. She makes the mistake of kicking Rukia to the ground and then stepping back. Rukia dives at Robyn's ankles, bringing her down, instantly from the surprise. Rukia uses her legs to entwine her one leg and she starts forcing the Robyn's one leg to the side with both of her legs. Robyn taps out as she winces in pain. Ichigo is at the ring smiling at her when she gets down. She returns his favor of a good luck kiss and he hops into the ring.
Rukia calls out to him that his opponent is versed in Kung Fu, and Ichigo remembers seeing this kid fight. The kid is actually pretty good. Ichigo ends up being on the defense for the first minute, due to the fact that his typical moves to defend his hair would be against the rules in this competition. He finally gets a chance and he does a thrust into the guy's chest, knocking him off balance. Ichigo lays such a hard forward kick on him that the guy lands on the ground unconscious. Ichigo is declared the winner.
He hops out of the ring and joins Rukia as they walk over to Renji.
"Too many moves are against the rules," Ichigo says in a disappointed voice. "My best moves are restricted due to all the rules."
"You're too used to fighting to defend yourself in real life, I hope you don't mess up and disqualify yourself doing something illegal against a tougher opponent." Rukia says, worrying.
"Don't worry, I've got it under control," Ichigo says confidently. "What about you? Are you okay?" Ichigo asks, remembering she got kicked to the ground. Rukia shoots him a grin.
"Of course!" Rukia says with a smile. They watch the matches and patiently wait for Renji's turn. When he's finally up, he ends up winning by doing the submissive move that Rukia had shown Ichigo with his opponent's arm. As Renji is leaving the ring, he invites them out to dinner, and Ichigo nods at Rukia when she looks at him questioningly.
They all end up going out to eat at an Italian restaurant and Renji tells them since he invited them out, he'll pay.
Ichigo doesn't say much for most of the dinner, it's mostly two old friends catching up. Renji does ask where in Japan Ichigo lives, and Ichigo answers him. Rukia tries to steer the conversation away from Ichigo's hometown, because she doesn't want to divulge her secret just yet.
Dinner ends without incident and Rukia thanks Renji for dinner. Renji heads to his hotel which is different from theirs, and Rukia gives Ichigo a charming smile.
"So do you mind if we walk back rather than calling for a ride? I think it's beautiful and I'd like to enjoy it." She tells him. Ichigo agrees happily, except for the fact that a group of thugs surrounds them when they're passing by an alley. There are eight of them.
"Give us your money and you might not get hurt." One thug says, causing Ichigo to attack instantly.
He doesn't understand what they're saying but he feels like they were just threatened. Rukia's eyes widen as he seemingly flies into the air and wraps his legs around one guy's neck before flipping over and sending the guy flying into the air before he lands to the ground with a sickening thud. Ichigo is already attacking the others before their jaws can be lifted off of the ground.
Ichigo rams the top part hard of his wrist into one guy's chin, causing his eyes to roll back into his head. He doesn't fall and so Ichigo does a roundhouse kick into the guy's chin sending him flying as well. The other guys all start rushing Ichigo but he refuses to go down. Rukia freaks out when she sees one guy pull out a knife and before she can even think about it, she jumps onto his back and starts choking him. This creates a distraction for Ichigo who right hooks one guy in the temple and then knees another guy right in the nuts. Two guys rush him at the same time and Ichigo dodges one and knees the other one in his face. The guy falls instantly. The guy he dodged, he turns on and Ichigo suddenly bends over and grabs the guy's shoelaces. He yanks up and sends the other guy flying into the cement, head first. He doesn't move once he lands on the ground.
Rukia chokes the man she jumped onto into unconsciousness. As he crumbles, one of the other guys noticed it and grabs her by her hair. Ichigo sees this and he doesn't even think.
Rukia isn't sure what happened, but one second, her hair was being yanked viciously on and then the guy who had a hold on her started screaming in pain. Rukia fell away and quickly stood and turned to see what was going on, and she sees the man has blood dripping from his face, and Ichigo's knuckles are bloody.
"My nose! You broke my nose!" The guy screams and Ichigo shows no mercy. He kicks the guy in his broken nose. Ichigo glances around at the thugs who litter the streets and he calmly pulls Rukia away. She's just wide eyed. She never imagined he had techniques like the ones she just saw him using.
"Are you okay?" Ichigo whispers and looks down at her with anger in his eyes.
"Yeah, he only yanked on my hair a little, I'm fine." Rukia says quietly. "What about you? There's blood on your knuckles." Rukia points out.
"It's not mine." Ichigo says shortly. He's pissed that anybody laid their hands on her in his presence. He quickly walks her to her room and then goes to his own room to sulk. He falls asleep with a scowl on his face.
Rukia is in a stupor after seeing just how talented a fighter he actually is. She never even imagined a move where you land on your opponent's shoulders and then send them flying as you do a handspring to your feet. She feels her heart race in excitement from being in that fight with him. It had seemed so natural to her, to jump in and help him. She had done it without thinking, and she was proud of herself. She falls asleep with a smile on her face.
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Ichigo wakes up feeling like crap. He hadn't slept well due to the incident the night before. He decides to take out his frustration on his opponent today. There's only four rounds today. He showers and furiously scrubs at his body as he remembers the way Rukia had her hair pulled by the disgusting thug as she had choked one of his companions unconscious. He had to hand it to her, she hadn't let go of her hold on the guy she'd attacked until he was unconscious.
He doesn't know how badly he hurt them, and he doesn't really care. He has no marks to show for his fight the night before, which is surprising considering the amount of thugs who had approached them. He figures they needed a lot since they were all weak and didn't know how to fight.
He stretches out before going and knocking on Rukia's door to see how she's feeling. She answers looking chipper and happy. Ichigo's glad for that much at least. They have a long leisurely breakfast before going to the tournament.
When they get there, they find out that Ichigo and Rukia are both in the first round. Renji follows them in the second round. Ichigo's pleased because he's in the mood to beat the tar out of somebody. He doesn't forget to kiss Rukia good luck.
Rukia's opponent is versed in Karate, and jiu-jitsu, and Rukia has the most difficult time with her. The fight lasts the full three rounds until the end when Rukia spots a tiny opening and takes it, she ends up submitting the girl by pushing like she's going to dislocate the shoulder. Rukia barely gets her to submit in time. Ichigo breathes a sigh of relief and waits for his turn.
His opponent is a second level black belt in Taekwondo and he was impressively fast. Ichigo is aware that the style focuses on kicking far more than striking, and he lets his anger take over for his power when he meets the guy in mid air and kicks him in the stomach so hard he falls back and lands on his back, unable to breathe. Ichigo is pretty good at kicking the wind out of people. Rukia looks thrilled as he comes out of the ring.
"After Renji's fight, want to go back to my room and I'll give you a back rub?" Ichigo asks, concerned since she was in the ring a long time. Rukia grins at him and nods appreciatively.
Renji wins, as expected by Rukia. Ichigo didn't see it this time since he wanted some water and had wandered off to go get it. Ichigo takes Rukia back to his room and he tells her to wait while he showers. She feels her body temperature rise a few degrees when he steps out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and no shirt. He's got the hotel brand lotion in his hand. He grins at her when he sees her staring at his chest. He walks over and sits next to her. She swallows loudly.
"Are you nervous?" Ichigo asks with a bit of surprise reaching his voice. Rukia looks into his eyes and she shakes her head no.
"I'm excited." Rukia admits sheepishly. Ichigo leans over and kisses her ear.
"I'm just looking out for you. That was a long fight you were in and I want to make sure you're ready for tomorrow." Ichigo whispers. Rukia nods. "Lay down on your stomach." Ichigo directs her and Rukia listens. Ichigo straddles her and sits on her rear end as he pulls the bottom of her tank top upward.
Rukia wasn't expecting this, but she obligingly puts her arms above her head so that he can pull off her tank top. He then unsnaps her bra and pulls the straps and flaps out of his way. He squeezes some lotion onto his hands and starts rubbing her back in a firm circular motion, making long strokes up and down. He changes his hand position so that his hands are flat on her back and her turns his hands while applying pressure in a window wiper motion. After he massages her back like that, he uses his fists to concentrate on her lower back. She lets out moans of pleasure from his very relaxing back rub. She feels him using his fingers to make long strokes up the center of her back and then he hooks around her upper back.
He patiently rubs her back for twenty minutes before he leans down and kisses her neck. He nudges her to turn over and when she does, he pulls her bra completely off and admires what she looks like half naked. He leans down and begins kissing her. She pulls him close so that their bare chests touch. He keeps reminding himself that he can't take it too far yet, but he wanted to make her happy.
He knew she had been looking forward to the next time they'd make out. He had been looking forward to it more, he's just been concerned that she'll drive him past his limits of control. He starts kissing her more and more passionately and then he once again moves down to her breasts. Rukia seems to really like it when he concentrates there. He experiments by using his tongue in different ways and different pressures and gauges from her reactions on how well she likes each type.
She seems to respond most excitedly to a firm circular motion around her nipple and so he indulges her by going at it for quite awhile. He can feel how turned on he is and she's making sweet little noises in her throat that are so close to driving him over the edge. He's ready to rip off his shorts. He knows he's going to have to stop it in the next minute but then she makes a move.
He moves up to kiss her and she uses the opportunity to grab his erection over his shorts and she squeezes with her hand, causing Ichigo to emit a loud excited moan before he jumps off of her.
"We have to stop now." Ichigo pants as he shuts his eyes from the way his body is shouting its disagreement.
This time, Rukia had felt that things were going further than she'd intended as well, and she quickly locates her bra and pulls it on. She then pulls her tank top from off of the pillow and pulls that on. Ichigo had opened his eyes before she'd snapped her bra back on and had felt another wave of desire wash over his body at the sight of her beautiful breasts. He remembered clearly the way they felt so pleasant in his mouth, in his hands, and he crawls back into the bathroom and turns on the water before sticking his head back out.
"Rukia, I'm going to shower." He says as he shuts the door and sheds his clothes. He gets in the cold shower and waits for the desire in his body to fade away. The cold water helps a great deal. He finally feels like he's recovered enough to get out, and when he does, he's surprised to find Rukia still sitting on his bed.
"Are you okay?" She asks him, looking up at his wet hair.
"Yeah. Sorry about that." Ichigo says, embarrassed. Rukia shakes her head and offers him a beautiful smile, that makes him feel good.
"I'm glad to know I have that effect on you, considering you have the same type of effect on me." Rukia says happily. "I'm glad you're okay with how I turned out."
"Seriously? You're amazing! I'm the lucky one." Ichigo whispers as he sits next to her again. He kisses her with all of his emotions filling the kiss.
"Thank you for saying so," Rukia says breathlessly as she looks into his eyes.
When they both go to their own beds to sleep, that night, they're both smiling.